SAVANNAH, Ga. – The No. 3 University of South Carolina Aiken baseball team knocked off Armstrong State 7-2 Saturday afternoon in a PBC contest.
The Pacers are now 14-3 overall, including 5-0 record in league play. The Pirates fall to 13-5 overall and 0-2 against conference competition.
Head coach
Kenny Thomas' team fell behind 1-0 in the third, but the squad quickly gained the lead in the fourth.
With one down,
Zach Moon singled and moved to second on a base on balls to
Daulton Weeks.
Nile Goings brought both of his teammates home with a three-run blast over the left field wall.
The Pacers made it 4-1 when Moon launched a solo homer in the sixth stanza. However, the Pirates scratched a run across in the bottom of the frame for a 4-2 contest.
Joseph Benitez left the Pirates confused with seven strong innings of work. He struck out 10 while walking just one batter. He gave up two runs on eight hits before giving way to
William Ard. Ard worked a scoreless eighth frame, sending the visitors to the ninth inning with a 4-2 edge.
In the ninth, USC Aiken broke through for three insurance runs. With one down,
Charles Padilla and
Skylar Mercado drew back-to-back walks.
After a pitching change,
Jose Bonilla welcomed the newcomer to the game with an RBI single. A failed pickoff attempt sent Bonilla to third and allowed Mercado to race home.
Jonathan Banks ended the scoring with a sacrifice fly, plating Bonilla for the five-run advantage.
Rookie
Mitch Spence continued his dominance with a scoreless ninth inning.
For the game, Bonilla and Moon had two hits apiece. Goings led everyone with three RBI. Moon also crossed home a pair of times.
Benitez picked up the victory to move to 4-1 on the season.
The Pacers close the series tomorrow at 1 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at PacerSports.com.
